WE gotta hold on to the players we got , ‘Cause it doesn’t make a difference if they’re injured or not

we drafted them and that’s a lot for us – let’s give it a shot!!

Ohhh we’re half way there – mid season draft review and we’re living on a fantasy prayer!

Read our blogs and you’ll win I swear

Cuz it’s Midseason draft review and we’re halfway there!

_________________________________________________________

HELLLLLLLLLLLO old readers , new readers , no readers , basically any and all readers; I would like to welcome you with open arms and excited eyes to the icon Joe’s first ever power blog , midseason draft review!

Feel free to listen to Bon Jovi’s “livin on a prayer” whilst reading , substitute the above lyrics and prep for my career change.

I would like to thank TOFantasySports for the cordial invite , he no doubt has good taste when it comes to getting the best of the best (no not Eric Roberts and that amazing 80’s movie) to come out and make some midseason “fake football” picks.

1 Calvin Johnson vs Den – Champ wouldn’t be able to cover him in his prime let alone past it.

2 Nicks vs Mia – I take chances in my WR ranks and he gets the nod because he is due for a huge game soon. Miami is the right matchup for it to happen.

3 Wallace vs NE – You have to think with the extra week to prep for the Steelers that Belichek will make it his goal to take Wallace out of the game. Regardless , he doesn’t have the personnel to execute his defensive gameplans.

4 Welker vs Pit – He is on fire this year , breaking yardage records and dominating the PPR landscape. Pit may contain him a bit , but you never sit him regardless.

5 Steve Smith vs Wash – Newton has really brought life back into a career that was floundering. You can’t help but feel happy for him.

6 Colston vs Stl – He is dominating everyone right now , and the Rams will be no different.

7 Vjax vs KC – Say what you want , but I am gonna keep rolling him out there; especially against a team as beatable for big plays as Kansas City.

8 Bowe vs SD – Same game as the above , worse QB but he still plays as a high end WR1 in almost any matchup.

9 Dez Bryant vs Phi – He has already surpassed Miles Austin as Romo’s most trusted wideout. He looks for him between the 20’s and in the Redzone. At his age and with his skill set he could dominate the position in the years to come.

10 Steve Johnson vs Wash – Had a week off and should come back ready to shine. He is so hard to cover and is all over the field. Fitz loves him and so do I.

1 Brees vs STL- Much like Graham , there is no other choice for the top spot this week. The stats plus the matchup make this easy.

2 Vick vs Dal – The bye week gave him time to get his legs fresh and recover from the beatings he has been taking. Dallas swarms to the ball , but Vick scores 20 in a bad game.

3 Cam vs Min – What a stud this guy turned out to be as he continues to augment his passing stats with great rushing stats.

4 Brady vs Pit – Would be higher if not for the electric nature of the position this year. Cam, Vick , Brees all have their own claims to the top spot each week and Brady has the misfortune of playing against Pitt.

5 Rivers vs KC – I am loading up on him in Salary Cap games. He is still an elite QB and KC is the perfect matchup for him to show it.

6 Eli vs Mia – Nicks will explode this week and the ‘Fins will have no answer for Bradshaw or Jacobs. Giants will put up a big number.

7 Ben Roethlisberger vs NE – Will have plenty of chances to put up big TD numbers against this horrible defense.

8 Stafford vs Den – Slips a bit in my rankings because of the injury questions – still a must start if healthy b/c of the offense and the upside.

2 AP @ Car – Great week last week but tweeked an ankle. He claims he is fine so he should be no lower than this.

3 Rice vs Ari – Horrible week last week , but the Cards should be the perfect medicine for the Ravens to bounce back.

4 Fred Jackson vs Wash – I am shaking my head thinking about this guy , I don’t want to write about him because I never drafted him.

5 Mccoy vs Dal – He is a stud plain and simple as he plays such a huge role in that offense. Nice time for a bye week for that team , gets moved a bit further down because Dallas defends the run great.

6 Gore vs Cleveland – Gore is back and picking up steam. The Browns will provide no challenge for him this week, at least in theory.

2 Gates @KC – Word is the foot responded well which is great to hear since he came back and scored. Great matchup this week puts him at 2 on my list.

3 Witten @Phi – The Eagles had 2 weeks to prep for this game. Romo is going back to the rib support jacket and that means more conservative play calling from the Cowboys. Murray will get his share and Witten will be the security blanket that Romo has come to know and love.

4 Aaron Hernandez @Pit – He is a freak at the position , a hybrid WR/TE and that makes him an exciting start each week. He does get nicked up a bit here and there , but right now he is healthy and playing and if it’s PPR he is a surefire must start.

5 Fred Davis @ Buf – The Bills have a hard time covering anybody. With Moss , Cooley and Hightower all seriously injured , Davis may end up with 15 targets this game.

6 Vernon Davis vs Cle – He looks to get back on track this week after a needed break. He tends to follow up down weeks with good weeks. The Browns are not this good vs the pass , so something has to give. Start him with confidence this week.

7 Daniels vs Jax – AJ will be a GTD and my gut feeling is that he is not going to suit up. Daniels has been consistently average this season and is due for TD. Dickson was open all over the field last week , but Flacco missed him a ton. Schaub is better than Flacco so start Daniels and feel good about it.

8 Gronk @Pit – You can argue that he is too low , and that may be the case , but in reality after the first few must starts everyone is about the same value. Davis and Daniels get the nod for me because they have better matchups and less competition for some QB love in PPR settings.

With the huge influx of twitter activity over the last few weeks, I figured it was the perfect time for @iconfantasyJoe to start a mail bag full of tweets and answer 5 tough #fantasyfootball questions every Thursday!

The one that sticks out like a sore thumb in that pile is Bradford. One he is injured and two he is terrible; Lloyd will help , but the offense looks inept – so he is out. Beck looked good at times vs Carolina last week , but he loses Santana Moss and Tim Hightower as a dump off threat in the same week – so he is out. Ponder looked good early last week , but after re looking at the stats he was 13-32 with 2 interceptions. Harvin has been non-existent this season and Michael Jenkins is their top receiving threat and because of that he is out. Leaving you with the one and only choice for your Bye week replacement as Dalton. AJ Green is already an elite WR , Gresham is turning into a very solid possession and redzone TE. Scott and Leonard replace a suspended Benson and offer more receiving capability and Simpson got busted for 4 billion pounds of weed.

VERDICT: Start Dalton this week and hope the defense catches a contact high from Simpson.

Ahh , the old one great guy for a decent guy and some junk trade. Normally I would say , decline this trade and send a nicely worded email to the gent who offered this deal to you. But, this is not your normal 3 for 1 deal because Vincent Jackson is a buy low candidate right now. So let’s break this down:

Terrell Owens holds no value in this deal , he should not be rostered , waivered or traded for; so I will not discuss him at all because he is an afterthought. Decker is falling off many fantasy rosters with Tebow’s inaccuracy ruining what could have been a break out season for the youngster. Vjax is struggling , but that’s because Gates has been out , Rivers has been below average and his hammy is slowing him down; he will get better. Colston has been dynamic so far when healthy. However , he has his own questions and will not be able to keep this pace up.

VERDICT: Keep Colston because he is better than Vjax by a large margin right now and Decker is only a replaceable bye week fill-in who comes with too many questions to make it worth giving up the best WR in the deal. TO is a non-factor in this deal and should be given no air-time.

This one is simple: Lloyd has 0 Tds this year and comes over to the Rams who barely score the ball when Bradford is 100% healthy. Wayne has shown zero chemistry with Painter and has not scored a TD since week 1 against Houston when Collins was at the helm. Fitzgerald has a tough matchup against Baltimore, but he is their only TD threat with Wells most likely missing the game. If you are going to score on the Ravens it will be through the air and Kolb looked better last week vs the Steelers. Fitz has 2 Tds this year so far which is more than both of the other two options combined and is your safest bet regardless of opponent to score each week for you.

Ok , I answered this one to you on twitter , but I wanted to give it some more thought and re-work the ranks I sent you.

1 Heyward-Bey OAK- He is the quintessential 3rd year WR. He was horrible his first two years and all of a sudden is running great routes , flashing top end speed , and is creating separation from the defense while showing strength with the ball in his hands. He get’s the #1 spot from this motley crue as long as Palmer cooperates.

2 Manningham NYG – He is still getting the targets , but not getting the TDs , I tried to warn everyone and anyone that would listen that he reached his ceiling last year and that he was being overdrafted this summer. That being said , he is under-performing right now and is due for some better games the rest of the season. Cruz is not going to over take him , as Eli still loves Mario and Coughlin is steady when it comes to keeping his players in their proper fantasy position. He is the anti-Shannahan.

3 Crabtree SF- With Josh Morgan out and Gore reclaiming his position amongst the running back elites , Crabby has a chance to be a decent WR3 the rest of the way. Alex Smith has improved , but let”s face it , he had nowhere to go but up. Crabtree seems to be healthy and needs to shed the image as primadonna sissy who can’t play through pain; a few 7 catch weeks will help.

4 Dem. Thomas Den- Tebow really did look his way a lot last week and it ended with a score for Thomas. Demaryius is a talented WR who has been oft injured so far in his short career. Tebow seems to prefer Thomas to Decker so far and because of that , he gets the nod over the other weekly fill-ins to hold and improve his stock the rest of the way.

5 A. Brown Pit- My intial assessment had Brown at the bottom and I felt that was a clear mistake. After he blew up last week albeit against the Cards, it is time to give him a bit of love. Ward has regressed since his good game about 3 weeks ago and Brown is becoming an interesting play against horrible defenses like the Pats this week. He is young enough and strong enough to hold his value and improve it the rest of the way.

6 Doucet Ari- 6-8 is where these WRs decline. Doucet gets the nod over the other two because he has a more clear role with a better WR across from him that demands double and triple teams. Also after this week the Cardinals schedule lightens up and he should be a decent play going forward if you’re in a jam.

7 Simpson Cin- The guy comes equipped with great size , great speed and great amount of drugs. He gets the nod over Jenkins simply because there is a chance he could give someone a contact high that is guarding him man to man which could result in a long TD catch any week.

8 Jenkins Min- Ponder to Jenkins for a TD! Yea I can’t envision myself saying that many more times this year, can you?

VERDICT: None of these players are going to be WR1’s in fantasy football , but many of them may help you win a game during the season. Ranking these types of players are what sets apart the men from the boys in all of your fantasy leagues.

5 @catzfan4life writes: yo my dude @iconfantasyJoe gimme some help on this one: J. Starks and B. Tate are available, which one should I add to bench?

This one is a bit trickier than it seems. The untrained eye would snatch up Starks in a second saying “Oh Mah Gawd , dat Arian Foster guy is too good!” But lost in that shuffle last week was Tate busting the hell out of the defense as well. Starks has an even bigger threat in front of him than Foster and that’s Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers will continue to throw the ball all over the place and rightfully so. He will also steal TDs on the goal line a few more times this year. Grant is not really a factor right now in GB and yet Starks is still only getting 10-12 carries a week.

ALL THAT BEING SAID: The packers are undefeated – Rodgers will slow down because of that , and come the end of the season Starks will start to get an increased workload to save Rodgers and prep for the playoffs.

VERDICT: Even – with a shade toward Tate for now because they both get 10-12 carries per week and Tate does more with his touches. If Foster goes down his value sky-rockets and Stark’s value won’t dramatically increase like that until week 15 when the Packers clinch their playoffs birth.

My question to you @catzfan4life: Can you get both of them? I have to believe there are 2 cuts worth of roster space on your team for both of these young potential studs as they offer more value than most wr3’s and 4’s.

______________________________________________________________

That’s it for this weeks mail bag

get your questions in early next week @iconfantasyJoe to make it onto the blog and get featured on twitter thursdays!

2 Miles Austin vs Stl – Romo to Austin for 2 Tds this week , lock it down he will be a monster.

3 Bowe vs Oak – Cassel to Bowe has been a theme for the last couple of weeks and it will continue this week as he looks strong and fast; which is scary , not like Michael Myers scary , more like Amityville scary because it’s based on a true story.

3 Wallace vs Az – See the Big Ben blurb , realize Rodgers-Cromartie is now on the Eagles. Put those together and Wallace is a monster. I couldn’t decide between him and Bowe so they both get ranked 3rd.

5 Dez Bryant vs Stl – If you can’t tell I’m high on the Romo to Dez to Miles to Witten arrangement they will have going on this week – it reminds me of a 4 way marriage or whatever it is the Mormons call it; Romo is the Daddy.

6 Steve Smith vs Wash – He is due for a score and 100 yards , he is guaranteed at least one of those two things , and if he gets both he becomes a top 3 play. So I think 6 is a great spot for him this week.

7 Marshall vs Den – Looked unstoppable last week against Revis of all people. Champ is shutting people down this season for Denver so far but Marshall is a wack job so that gives him an edge.

8 Colston vs Ind – After last week how could he not be in the top 10 in a PPR blog during such a deep bye week. Even if he spells his first name wrong; Seriously: Marques? CMON MAN.

9 Vincent Jackson vs NYJ – He is healthy and he is built like Marshall who dominated the Jets last week.

1 Rodgers vs Min – Aaron is the #1 fantasy qb in the game and it is not even close. Minny can stop the run , but can’t stop the pass ; 300 yards and 3Tds is practically his floor every week.

2 Brees vs Ind – Indy can’t stop anyone on defense and Brees has been torching teams this season. With Colston back and Graham becoming the premier TE in the NFL you have to like his 30 plus point upside every week.

3 Romo vs Stl – The Rams are putrid on both sides of the ball. Bradford is going to be out which means run, run, pass, punt all game for this struggling team. You have to wonder how long before the buzzards start circling around Spagnulo. Romo goes off this game start all the Cowboy WRs.

4 Stafford vs ATL – Falcons are getting torched on defense this year and Roddy White looks like he got one too many targets last year as he clearly isn’t reaching the level he held in 2010. Best is out , and may be out for a while but Morris is a capable receiver and that just means Stafford will throw it more to his other check down options such as Pettigrew. Maybe Burleson rejoins the WR corp with the Best injury freeing up some targets elsewhere.

5 Cam Newton vs Wash – I said it last week and I will say it every week: Unless he rushes for at least 1 TD a week his passing numbers are going to be supremely average. That being said he is almost a good bet to run one in every week , but against a good tackling team like Washington he will need to use his arm more. All that being said , read and digested Cam is a must start on any fantasy team right now which is completely shocking to me.

6 Ben Roethlisberger vs AZ – Arizona is putrid in the secondary since they traded Rodgers-Cromartie and Ben will be throwing it to whomever he wants whenever he so chooses. Antonio Brown makes for a decent play this week as all of the Steelers have a chance at some big numbers with Ben being the beneficiary of his WRs running loose all game.

7 Rivers vs NYJ – Vincent Jackson is back at full strength and Gates will be returning this game. Mathews is coming into his own and Tolbert offers a shockingly versatile skill set to complement this offense. Revis had trouble guarding Marshall last week because of his size and speed and Jackson is built almost exactly the same. Do not be afraid to start any of your chargers this week , even though the Jets still demand respect. Gates is the only one I urge caution on , for the obvious reasons.

1 Graham vs Indy – Simply put the best TE in fantasy football this year.

2 Witten vs Stl – Keeps on chugging , keeps on putting up numbers , keeps on being a must start.

3 Finley vs Min – Only stays this high because of all of the TEs on a bye this week. He is getting lost in that offense , but still is due for a huge week soon.

4 Fred Davis vs Car – Cooley injured and Beck starting increases Freddy’s value for the rest of the season. Grossman was clearly losing steam and Beck will do better by default. Nice matchup against a bad defense.

5 Daniels vs Ten – Great matchup and set up for a big game. Considered flip flopping between him and Freddy but regardless they hold about the same value and in a deep bye week are must starts at the postion unless you own one of the top 3.

6 Pettigrew vs Atl – About as consistent as they come. The Best injury opens up more offensive targets and chances for guys like Pettigrew. I own him a ton so at least I can find a silver lining with Best out.

7 Tony G vs Det – Consistently producing this year and turned a lot of pundits (including me) right on their ear. It’s good to see one of the great ones still producing this late in the game , keep it up Tony!

SOLID STARTS

8 Olsen vs Wash – Not a great matchup , but he deserves a start almost every week for what he means to that offense. Cam could and prob should use him a bit more , but there is no arguing with the fact he clearly is on the right team for fantasy purposes.

9 Benjamin Watson vs Sea – This is more a gut play than anything. He has a penchant for random explosive weeks and this could be one of them. ZZZ Sleeper

10 Gates vs NYJ – Keep your expectations in check because of his health. But there are a TON of people itching to get him back in their lineup this week and I can’t argue against it.

11 Keller vs SD – Keeps sucking after his early season successes. I demand to know whose fault this is? Anyone want to chime in and tell me why Keller, who has as much speed and talent as any TE in the NFL can’t be a consistent producer? Anyone?

12 D Clark vs NO – I saw what he did last week , just in time for me to write him off. He won’t be a consistent producer at all and you can mark that down. Well I guess he will be consistently inconsistent this year which really makes him consistent. My brain hurts now , moving on.

SOME QUESTIONS

13 Cook vs Hou – The Houston front 7 has been surprisingly good this year. Flacco beat them last week like I believed he would but Dickson did not do much. Cook is lumped into the middle of the pack , but because of his big play ability and what he could mean for the Tennesse passing attack he gets the nod over some similarly valued TEs.

14 Dickson vs Jax – Great matchup and a great buy this week on fanduel.

15 Winslow vs Chi – The Bears are getting toasted by opposing TEs this year , Winslow’s problem is he is playing on 68 year old knees.. but he is a “warrior” – just ask him , he’ll tell you.

16 Kendricks vs Dallas – He has been coming on of late. But coming on for Kendricks means about 4 catches for 50 yards , when people are getting excited for that you know you haven’t lived up to the hype.

17 Boss vs KC – If every play was a fake punt he would be the number 1 TE in fantasy. Palmer helps his long term value , I love the guy.

I SCREWED UP MY DRAFT

18 Heath Miller vs AZ – Nice matchup , but the problem is it’s a nice matchup for every single other offensive player on the Steelers. For that reason I don’t start Miller this week.

19 M Lewis vs Bal – Will be better when the schedule lightens up and Gabbert will only improve from playing tough defenses like this each week.

20 Shockey vs Wash – I actually like him to make a play or 3 this week and if you are desperate he gives you some decent upside.

___________________________________________

I am just glad I didn’t have to write about Scott Chandler this week!

anyway , keep the questions coming @iconfantasyJoe and we are going to start doing a weekly mail bag!

I am putting together some free and some money Salary Cap Tourneys where you guys will get to play against me!

About iCon

Hello, my name is Joe Hoffman, a 3 time fantasy sports player of the year, fantasy baseball expert and founder of iCon Sportslocated at www.iconfantasysports.com. iCon Sports is an upstart fantasy games website aiming to connect players to the hobby and to the community as we compete for fantasy sports glory and top cash payouts!

I write this, the iCon SportsExperience , an active Fantasy Sports blog that will not only provide you with top notch expert knowledge , but will also give you a never before seen insight into the trials , tribulations , successes and failures that come with trying to build your very own fantasy sports company. Together, we will learn not only so much about fantasy sports, but also about the business and the community that defines this hobby. So lets make some money , make some friends , make some enemies and make ourselves the next iCons of fantasy sports!